Life history data of lizards of the world

Life is defined by a capacity for reproduction, yet the ways in which animals reproduce vary tremendously among species. Reproductive life histories are complex phenomena influenced by a variety of factors, such as physical condition of individuals, food supply, bauplan, and phylogenetic history, which are often correlated. Understanding life histories is crucial in evolutionary ecology because they represent different strategies that evolved to maximize individual fitness. Variation in life history can be attributed to both historical (= phylogenetic) and non-historical (= environmental) causes. We compiled a large dataset on lizard life history variables. Our dataset consists of life history data for 737 lizard populations, representing 337 species in 33 families from 280 study sites globally. About 64% of these data were collected directly by the authors. Regarding data collected by authors, we sexed lizards by dissection and direct examination of gonads. Females were considered reproductive if vitellogenic follicles or oviductal eggs were present. We regarded the simultaneous presence of enlarged vitellogenic follicles and either oviductal eggs or corpora lutea as evidence for the sequential production of more than one clutch of eggs per year. We considered clutch size as the number of vitellogenic follicles or oviductal eggs in mature females. For each population, we recorded the following variables, if available: adult female mass (g), adult female SVL (mm), female SVL at maturity (based on SVL of smallest reproductive female), offspring SVL (based on hatchling size or smallest individual in population), clutch or litter size (number of offspring per clutch or litter for all reproductive females in the population), total number of clutches or litters per year, clutch frequency (single- or multiple-brooded), relative clutch or litter mass [total volume of eggs or embryos (cc) divided by adult female mass (g)], reproductive mode (oviparous or viviparous), foraging mode (sit-and-wait or active), distribution (tropical or temperate), and preferred habitat type (aquatic, arboreal, bromelicolous, fossorial, psammophilous, saxicolous, semi-arboreal, or terrestrial). These data are valuable to test various life history hypotheses, including phylogenetic design constraints and effects of ecology and climate on reproductive tactics.

繁殖能力是生命的核心定义特征，然而不同动物类群的繁殖方式存在显著差异。繁殖生活史是一类受多种因素共同影响的复杂现象，这些因素包括个体生理状态、食物供给、身体构型（bauplan）以及系统发育历史，且各类因素间往往相互关联。对生活史的研究在进化生态学中至关重要，因为生活史代表了为最大化个体适合度而演化出的各类适应性策略。生活史的变异可归因于历史成因（即系统发育因素）与非历史成因（即环境因素）两类。我们汇编了一套涵盖蜥蜴生活史变量的大型数据集。本数据集涵盖全球280个研究地点的737个蜥蜴种群的生活史数据，涉及33科337个物种。其中约64%的数据由作者团队直接采集。对于作者直接采集的数据，我们通过解剖并直接观察性腺来鉴定蜥蜴的性别。当雌性个体存在卵黄生成滤泡或输卵管卵时，即判定其处于繁殖状态。我们将同时存在增大的卵黄生成滤泡与输卵管卵或黄体的情况，视为该个体每年可连续产出多窝卵的依据。我们将窝卵数定义为成熟雌性体内的卵黄生成滤泡或输卵管卵的数量。针对每个种群，我们尽可能记录以下变量：成年雌性体重（克）、成年雌性吻肛长（SVL，snout-vent length）、雌性成熟时的吻肛长（以种群中最小繁殖雌性的吻肛长为基准）、幼体吻肛长（以孵化个体大小或种群中最小个体为基准）、窝卵或幼崽数（种群内所有繁殖雌性每窝或每胎产出的后代数量）、每年总窝数或胎数、窝产频率（单窝繁殖或多窝繁殖）、相对窝重[卵或胚胎总体积（立方厘米）除以成年雌性体重（克）]、繁殖模式（卵生或胎生）、觅食模式（静候型或主动型）、分布类型（热带或温带），以及偏好生境类型（水生、树栖、附生凤梨栖居、穴居、沙生、岩生、半树栖或陆生）。本数据集可用于检验各类生活史假说，包括系统发育设计约束以及生态学与气候对繁殖策略的影响。